Mahatma Gandhi's message
Re: "Mahatma Gandhi" by Ashikur Rahman (Sept. 30). Not only that Mahatma Gandhi's message of non-violence is forgotten, as Ashikur Rahman correctly mentions, he is now being considered as impractical by many. When Toronto's National Post published prominently my letter urging the Palestinians to follow the non-violent methods used by Gandhi to end British colonial rule in India to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, it came under criticism. An Indo-Canadian representing the Canadian Hindu Congress wrote that Gandhi could use non-violence because he was leading peace-loving Hindus, while the Palestinians are a violent people and incapable to act non-violently. To this, it may be pointed out that the Hindu extremist who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi was hardly peace loving. In fact, Mahatma Gandhi made it clear why he rejected all calls to launch an American-style violent independence movement: "If Indians take up guns to kill the British, given India's great religious and ethic divisions, they would still be using the same guns to kill each other long after the British had gone. I don't want India's freedom if it meant Indians would be free to slaughter each other. If India makes violence her creed, I will not care to live in India." The brutality of Hamas toward fellow Palestinians shows that it is essentially a terrorist outfit which will not hesitate to kill fellow Palestinians belonging to a rival camp. This means that even if Israel vacates the West Bank as it has done in Gaza, a new bloodletting will erupt among Hamas and Fatah for control of the Palestinian state. Moreover, if the Palestinians cannot live peacefully with each other, it will be futile to think that a Palestinian state and Jewish state can live peacefully side by side. US President Barack Obama is trying to broker a lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians. For that, he should prod the Palestinians to stop supporting Hamas and opt for a Gandhian non-violent political movement.
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